Lumumba

Partice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the Republic of the Congo and a pioneer of African unity, was assassinated on 17 January 1961. The film ‘Lumumba’ (2001) directed by Haitian film-maker Raoul Peck traces the rise and fall of the political leader and his vision of a united Africa, which gained him powerful enemies

The Chat Room event following the screening explores the relationship between history, representation and the archive. Ludo de Witte’s extraordinary book Lumumba (Verso, 2001), published in the same year, draws on UN and Belgian government archives to tell the true story of Lumumba’s assassination. It was also the year in which the painter Luc Tuymans, representing Belgium in the Venice Biennale, took Lumumba as the subject and theme for an exhibition of his work.

Ludo de Witte will be in conversation with Luc Tuymans, John Akomfrah (artist and film-maker) and Raoul Peck.